8 killed across Iraq as violence escalates: fresh deaths come after bloodiest day in months

8 people were killed in sectarian violence in Iraq on Saturday, just hours after a wave of massive bombings shook Baghdad, leaving 60 people dead

Eight people were killed across Iraq Saturday, hours after a series of bombings rocked Baghdad in the bloodiest day there in months, officials said.

Calls for a halt to sectarian violence went unheeded, with gunmen storming the home of a top police anti-terrorism official and killing him, his wife and their two young children. The BBC said police Capt. Adnan Ibrahim was targeted by Sunni gunmen.

Gunmen killed Assad Nassir, a Sunni cleric, outside his home later in the day and, in a third incident Saturday, eight police officers were kidnapped at a checkpoint in Ramadi, a city west of Baghdad.

In the northern city of Mosul, two police officers were shot at a checkpoint and two more died when a roadside bomb detonated, the BBC said.

The attacks came after three explosions[2] Friday in Sunni-occupied areas of Baghdad killed an estimated 60 people.